Alienware 15R3 BIOS issue

Question

Today I received my Alienware 15R3 7700hq laptop. I installed a m2 ssd and two sticks of 8gb ram. Everything was working fine. I went onto the dell website and downloaded all the necessary drivers/windows updated as well. Lastly I decided to flash the bios with the latest version as it was recommending me too.

Now if I had known that there is a problem with flashing the bios and it seems to be bricking many Alienware 15R3 laptops I wouldn't have done it. The bios seemed to flash ok though when it went to restart it just hung with a black screen and fans on full power. Only the left side of the keyboard was lit up middle and right wasn't.

Having done on a quick google I realised there was definitely an issue. I decided to follow the procedure of doing a hard reset and hoping the laptop would turn on with no issues.

There was a big issue unfortunately, black screen followed by 7 beeps. Fans and lights all light up just nothing on the screen.

Now I understand that my laptop has broken and the BIOS has bricked it however I can't seem to do anything to get anything up on the screen. I've unplugged the battery, drained the power, done a cmos reset, taken ram sticks out (doing this and powering up doesn't even give any beeps, RAM is fine though, which I find strange). I have also tried holding fn and powering up to no avail. The strange thing is though once I had done these procedures the laptop starts and resets 3 times (clicking?) then it's followed by the 7 beeps. If I power off and power on again no beeps but no display either. It will just hang until I force shut it off holding the power button.

I don't believe my cpu or motherboard has died as usb/mouse etc all light up fine. I believe the latest bios is the cause of this and I cannot understand as to why this has happened as my laptop was plugged in using the power supply provided. I also didn't interrupt the installation at any point

Now, where do do I stand with this? As it's from the dell uk outlet. Can anyone help? Also has a years warranty?

Usmanhus · Answer

Thought I'd add to this. Tried a different hard drive with recovery image + USB to no avail. I decided to do this as I would get 3 red lights and 3 blue only if I held the power button down while powering up. Diagnosing these lights apparently means it can't find a recovery image.

Decided to call dell up who will send an engineer out next week. The representative I spoke to said it's most likely they will have to replace the motherboard.

He guided me the process of holding ctrl + esc while plugging in the adapter and turning the machine off then letting go of ctrl + esc but it didn't work. Also asked if I removed the battery connector tried the cmos reset.

I did say I personally think there is an issue with the bios update for kabylake processors but he mentioned it can happen, and that there was no known issue at the moment. Let's hope the engineer can sort it out as I really want to use the laptop.

Carbon Based Lifeform · Answer

Hi. sorry to hear that.

unfortunately, i have no idea how to help you. you already tried every possible fix and it didn't work. the only thing you could do now is buy a new BIOS Chip on ebay. costs around 25 $. you would need to open the laptop and there goes your warranty. so let's talk about it in two years.

why didn't you try to return it and get a new one?

Usmanhus · Answer

I got this from a reseller on an auction site. Not sure where it would stand on getting an exchange as the laptop was working fine up until I installed the bios. Saying that, they would probably say user error as per say to not warrant an exchange.

Also I am unaware opening the laptop voids your warranty as the representative asked me to open the laptop to troubleshoot? So even if you install a new ssd or ram it voids it? Or are we talking more on the terms of when people do repastes on the cpu and gpu?

Usmanhus · Answer

There are stories for every workplace. That's how work is in this day and age. My take on it for others with a Kabylake r3 15 is do not risk updating to the latest bios. If anyone is in the same boat please do comment.

Carbon Based Lifeform · Answer

you might be right. open the laptop is probably not an issue. last time i bought a laptop it was sealed with the warranty sticker. but it was an MSI dragon apache super ninja robot what not laptop.

well okay then. there is your last option. but i am sure the tech-guy can fix it. i had to call one. he came over and fixed my PC. the guy was super friendly and chatty. he told me a lot of stories regarding working for Dell....

Carbon Based Lifeform · Answer

oh you're the sirious type of person. got it. i'm out.

luizer · Answer

Same thing just happened to my 15R3. I updated to the latest BIOS and the same thing happened. Except for the beeps, mine has the same symptoms. Only left side of the keyboard lit and fans on high with black screen after BIOS flash. I had to Hard reset and now all I get is a black screen with fans on low, and 3 red lights followed by 3 blue. I'm sending it in instead of having a guy come and replace the motherboard because I want to make sure that my computer is working when I get it back...hopefully

I'd expect more quality for all that money...that's what I get for jumping on the alienware bandwagon. My computer is less than a year old and I bought it brand spanking new...SMFH...

Locked Topics – Alienware General

Alienware 15R3 BIOS issue

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